Jack’s Take: Firing Tom Allen Shows Indiana’s Enhanced Commitment to Football, Why it Must Continue

Indiana will pay one of the largest buyouts in history to fire Tom Allen. That demonstrates the school is more serious about football than it’s ever been, but that commitment must continue in a new era of the expanded Big Ten, NIL and transfer portal.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana could have waited a year, saved millions, and accepted mediocrity.

Instead, Indiana fired coach Tom Allen Sunday, concluding his 9-27 record was unacceptable and that staying the course to save money would further erode fan interest and donor commitment.

Allen can hang his hat on having the program’s winningest two-year run since the 1990s. But winning just three Big Ten games since 2021 means the move had to happen, though it comes with some risk.

Simply getting rid of Allen will cost the school upwards of $20 million, likely the third largest college football coach buyout in history. Hiring a new coach; funding name, image and likeness deals; budgeting for transfer portal additions; and renovating facilities increases that figure exponentially. There’s no guarantee it works with a new coach, either. Indiana is the losingest program in college football history after all, and the next coach has a major rebuilding challenge.

But what firing Allen shows is that Indiana is more committed to improving its football program than ever. That’s especially important a few years into a new era of college athletics.

The Big Ten expands to 18 teams next year, with the addition of former PAC-12 schools USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Indiana finished with a Big Ten-worst 3-9 record in 2023, and sticking with the status quo could have led to a similar position in the conference next year. An immediate jump to the top of the Big Ten shouldn’t be expected in the new coach’s first year, but Indiana showing that it’s serious about football is an important first step in the new Big Ten.

Regardless of who is coaching Indiana next season, the first moments of their tenure will be defined by roster retention and the transfer portal. Indiana showed some offensive progress late in the year with quarterback Brendan Sorsby and several receivers, running backs and offensive linemen with remaining eligibility. Convincing players like Donaven McCulley, Jaylin Lucas and others to stay in Bloomington will be crucial to the Hoosiers’ foundation in 2024.

Doing so will take continued commitment from the athletic department. Prior to his firing, Allen said Indiana needed to be more aggressive in its approach to NIL, and, "If you don't, you get run over.”

Traditional powers in college football poached several building blocks from Allen’s rosters in recent years, including Michael Penix Jr., Dasan McCullough and AJ Barner, to name a few. The ability to transfer without having to sit out a year hurt Indiana’s depth, too. Allen landed impact players on both sides of the ball, but the transfer portal turned out to be a net negative over the last three seasons.

This financial commitment extends past the transfer portal and NIL to facilities renovations. Indiana announced this season that it plans to build a football-only weight room, and Allen had previously mentioned the desire to renovate Indiana’s indoor practice facility. Those factors must go hand in hand with the new coach.

So where does Indiana go from here? Coaches with Indiana ties could be a starting point in Athletic Director Scott Dolson’s search. That might include Justin Frye, Ohio State’s associate head coach for offense and offensive line coach. Frye played offensive line at Indiana from 2002-06, and he also has experience as UCLA’s offensive coordinator. Similarly, Indiana may look at Antwaan Randle El, a wide receiver for the Hoosiers from 1997-2001 who now coaches Detroit Lions receivers.

But with the stakes so high, it may be best to bring in someone with head coaching experience. Sticking with Indiana connections, South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack could be a candidate. Wommack was Indiana’s defensive coordinator under Allen from 2019-20, and he’s gone 21-16 at South Alabama, including a 10-3 mark in 2021.

Other successful head coaches who warrant consideration include Toledo’s Jason Candle and James Madison’s Curt Cignetti, who’ve built two of the nation’s top mid-major programs. Candle has a 65-33 record since 2015, and the Rockets are 11-1 this year. Cignetti is 52-9 since 2019. Probably unlikely but worth a call would be Tulane’s Willie Fritz and former Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald.

No matter the choice, expect Dolson to act fast. He moved quickly to fire Allen, and the immediacy of the transfer portal and coaching carousel requires Indiana to have a face leading the program right away.

Allen proved that winning is possible at Indiana, but his tenure also revealed how difficult it is to sustain that success. It’ll be no easy task for the next coach, but Sunday’s move is the first step in Indiana’s enhanced commitment to football.

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• IU FIRES ALLEN: Indiana fired head football coach Tom Allen on Sunday morning after a seven-year tenure that included two bowl games in 2019 and 2020, followed by a 3-24 Big Ten record from 2021-23. CLICK HERE